We recently published a list of 10 Best Debt-Free IT Stocks to Buy Under $10. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Aurora Innovation Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR) stands against other best debt-free IT stocks to buy under $10.
Debt generally has a negative connotation – it could be a burden on individuals, a government, or, in the case in discussion, an organisation. So, why do companies still accumulate debt? There are several reasons, but the primary reasons are – the cost of debt is cheaper than other financing options such as equity, debt doesn’t lead to ownership in the company and doesn’t dilute the owners’ equity position in the business, and debt is cost-effective because interest on debt is tax-deductible. Debt can be used to fund expansion or operations, or even to pay down previous debt. It can also be used to invest in research and development without giving up control.
On the other hand, debt has a fixed cost and interest rate, representing a significant potential threat to the company’s operations and, in severe cases, its existence. Lenders can foreclose if interest and principal are not paid as agreed, possibly requiring the business to cease operations and liquidate its assets. From a small cap stock’s perspective, this angle becomes much more important due to the usual volatility in their business and the relatively higher interest rates they are charged because they are smaller in scale.
While increasing debt is risky, harsh macroeconomic conditions make it further challenging. In an interview with CNBC on March 12, Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio highlighted a growing supply-demand imbalance in the U.S. debt market. He highlighted that although some investors remain optimistic due to past resilience, the current situation is structurally different. He explained that the volume of debt the U.S. will need to issue may exceed demand from global investors thus creating a near-term risk. Dalio believes the fiscal deficit must be significantly reduced to address this imbalance, from the current projected 7.2% of GDP to approximately 3%. Without such adjustment, the U.S. could face difficult decisions, including debt restructuring, political pressure on foreign creditors, debt monetisation, etc.
With this challenging backdrop and rising bankruptcies, investing in financially stable companies becomes crucial, especially in the case of volatile stocks. CNBC recently reported that corporate bankruptcies in the U.S. have surged to their highest growth rate since the aftermath of the Great Recession, surpassing even the levels seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, 694 companies filed for bankruptcy, up from 635 in 2023 and even above 638 in the pandemic year 2020. During the discussion, the CNBC panellist explained that the main reason for this trend is the continued increase in interest rates, which has made it much more expensive for companies to manage their debt.
Interest rates might remain elevated for a longer period, and thus investing in debt-free, affordable stocks may be the right decision in these volatile times. Although small cap stocks are risky, identifying fundamentally strong companies with low or no debt can allow investors to capitalise on their growth opportunities without the added risks of debt.
Our Methodology
We used online screeners to compile a list of IT stocks with a stock price below $10 and a market capitalisation of at least $300 million. For the shortlisted stocks, we compared their enterprise value (EV) to their market capitalisation (EV to Market cap ratio). A ratio below 1.0 would mean that the company doesn’t have any debt or has minimal net debt. We then identified the top 10 stocks with the highest hedge fund ownership from this refined list by leveraging data from Insider Monkey’s Q4 2024 hedge fund database. Finally, we ranked these stocks in ascending order based on the number of hedge funds holding positions in them.
Note: All pricing data is as of market close on March 27.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
A closeup of a self-driving hardware unit inside the dashboard of a passenger vehicle.
Aurora Innovation Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR)
Ent. Value: $11.3 billion; Market Cap: $12.4 billion
EV to Market Cap: 0.9
Share Price: $7.46
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 27
Aurora Innovation Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR) is a technology company which focusses on developing autonomous vehicle solutions for freight and passenger transportation. The company is building the Aurora Driver, an AI-powered system for self-driving trucks and cars. The system consists of sensors, software, and hardware, and can be installed in passenger or commercial vehicles to convert them into self-driving cars.
The company partners with leading automotive and logistics companies to advance the adoption of self-driving technology in commercial fleets. While Aurora Innovation Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR) is a development-stage company and has not reported revenue so far, its upcoming commercial launch of Aurora Driver systems on the Dallas-Houston route in April 2025 is a much-awaited catalyst. The company is focusing on trucking, which is a massive market with a $1.0 trillion long-term opportunity.
As of the end of Q4 2024, the company had $1.24 billion in cash on its balance sheet, which was expected to support the planned commercial launch and its operations into the second half of 2026.
In early March, a Morgan Stanley analyst initiated the coverage on Aurora Innovation Inc. (NASDAQ: AUR) with an Overweight rating and a price target of $12. The analyst sees Aurora at a critical moment with commercial driverless revenue set to begin soon, positioning the company as a leader in the autonomous vehicle (AV) revolution. He views autonomous trucking as a major long-term earnings opportunity and believes Aurora is in a strong position to capitalise on it.
Although Aurora has been public for four years, the analyst believes the market is now recognising its leadership in the AV space, with its stock tripling in the last nine months. However, he suggests this could be just the beginning if the company’s long-term growth trajectory plays out as expected.
Overall, AUR ranks 4th on our list of best debt-free IT stocks to buy under $10. While we acknowledge the potential of AUR to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AUR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
